Ecuador weighs Swedish request to question Assange

The Australian fled to the Ecuadoran embassy in London in June 2012, where he has been holed up ever since, to escape extradition to Sweden.

Ecuador is evaluating the request "in the spirit of judicial cooperation" and will make a decision based on international law and "Ecuadoran jurisdiction in the area of asylum rights," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Swedish prosecutors said Monday they had submitted a request to British and Ecuadoran authorities to question Assange in June and July at the embassy.

The 43-year-old Assange says he fears Sweden would in turn extradite him to the United States.

WikiLeaks publication of massive troves of highly sensitive US diplomatic cables and military files in 2010 caused a furore in Washington.

Sweden issued an arrest warrant for Assange following allegations from two women in Sweden, one who claimed rape and another who alleged sexual assault.

Assange denies the accusations and says his relations with the two women were consensual.